Flowers in Winter
by lil bishi hunter
Summary: Smoker is a lonley cop who is given a rare flower. From the flower is born a small man with black hair and firey eyes. SmokerXAce lurve. dont like yaoi? move along.
1. Chapter 1: The blue flower

Lilbishihunter: Hey. Im here! dodges thrown food Sorry everyone who is still patiently waiting for the final chapter of autumn. I AM working on it, i swear. I just decided to change the storyline and the whole basis of the chapter is going to be revised and redone. I swear, it will be good. And to those who like the Surprise, dont ecpect that to be done for a while, my friend and i have some big plan for that if we could ever ghet together.

Now that i warned everyone of my horrible updating history, i wish to let you know that for this story, i have the second chapter already started. Im working on this one until i get in the mood to write for House again. Smoker Ace pairing rocks so i wrote this because there is not enough lurve. WARNING: for those who did not just read that. THIS IS YAOI! SEXY MARIENE MAN AND HOT PIRATE GUY. If you dont like it, dont read it. Flames will be given to ace AND used to roast marshmallows. Anything else, Makari?

Makari: Lilbishihunter does not own One Piece. That bit of genious belongs to Eiichiro Oda. She owns nothing, she has no money, and i am only here to keep her company in her yaoi fangirlness.

Chapter 1

Smoker grunted in surprise and sat up as the door to his office burst open to reveal a very happy go lucky woman standing there with two cups of coffee. "Good Afternoon, Smoker! I have your coffee! Isn't it just a great day? The sky is beautiful!" Tashigi smiled and gushed as she set one of the cups in front of Smoker. Her body was a little more rounded from the last time he had seen her, the embryo inside her growing.

He picked up the cup and rolled his eyes at the decoration. The jolly fat man just smiled at him as he took a sip. "Yeah, if you like gray steely skies with snow falling out of them and causing pile ups on roads. If you have any cases on your hands, I want them." His desk was completely covered with files and papers, leaving very little room to set down his large cup of coffee.

"Not today, Smoker. All day to lazy about." She said as she moved some papers from her chair and sat down.

"Never a good day to laze about, it's boring… I guess that means I should get some of this paper work done then." Smoker muttered reluctantly as he started shifting through the files, two unlit cigars in his mouth. "Tashigi, have you seen my lighter?" he looked under his desk, shaking his head.

"Um…" she said as she looked around her desk as well, her glasses falling to the floor in the process. "My glasses!" she knelt around carefully, feeling for them while keeping one hand on her stomach. Smoker sighed as he got up, Moving over to pick up her glasses and shove them back onto her face. He paused as her glasses found their way back onto her face, then smiled, "Oh! Thank you Smoker!"

He went back to his desk, sitting down and immediately jumping back up again at a fairly loud crack coming from his chair. He picked up his now broken lighter. "Found it… but now it's useless… shit." He tossed it into the trash can, pulling the unlit cigars from his mouth and putting them back into his coat. He then got out a pen and got to work.

Tashigi opened her desk drawer, smiling as she got out a small gift. "Here Smoker, Merry Christmas." She looked for an empty spot on his desk to place it but found none. So as a last resort, she placed it on a towering pile of papers. The large stack teetered back and forth for a few seconds before tipping over onto three more piles. Finally, the avalanche of papers fell over and buried her.

Smoker got up and dug through the pile, muttering, "This is one of the reasons I don't like the holidays!" He unearthed her passed out, extra heavy body, grunting slightly as he picked up the dead weight and deposited it onto her chair. "Entirely too much paperwork and nothing better to do!"

She started moving around, waking up and breathing easier as the heavy pile was no longer on top of her form. Her eyes opened, waking up and moving carefully to sit upright. "Your present!" she exclaimed as she looked at the mountain she had been saved from.

"Why are you getting me a present, anyway? Don't you have a husband to take care of?" Smoker asked as she moved back over to the papers and started digging through them. He leaned on the desk, watching for a few mintues before she gasped. Her large smiled expressed unbridled joy and triumph as she handed him the present.

"Because it's a nice thing to do." She said as she stepped back, waiting for him to open it.

He pulled at the bow, making the ribbons and paper fall away. Then lifted the box, smiling slightly at what he saw inside. "You are so practical!" he teased picking up the stamp and ink with his signature on it.

She laughed, "Well, now you could get your paperwork done in half the time!" She moved back over to her desk, sitting down and watching him.

A thought occurred to him as he set it down. Then his eyebrow raised in question. "Where did you manage to get a sample of my signature, anyway?" he asked as he sat back down in his chair, but not before making sure that there was nothing on it this time.

She blushed and said, "Well, last time you were doing paper work, I asked you to sign something for me. You didn't even look at it because you were almost going cross eyed."

He shook his head as he grabbed his gun and badge. "I'm going out for something to eat, want anything?"

She smiled, "Someone to be able to spend Christmas with you, are you sure you won't come over to my house?"

"I'm positive, Tashigi. The idea of ten screaming kids and a bunch of old people gathered around a dinner table fighting over food seems a bit too barbaric to me." He said.

She laughed, "Like eating Chinese in front of the TV is any better?"

He just turned to the door, small smile fading. A couple of smiles were shot his way as he left the building but no outright hellos. As he walked further, nobody even bothered to look at him.

His usual scowl in place, he walked through the crowds of Christmas people and the falling snow. The people all rushed by him as though he wasn't there, groups of kids shopping with their parents and happy couples under the mistletoe. His scowl turned to a pensive, sad look as he passed by all the shops and stores, having no reason for a Christmas ham or some fun party games for he had no one to go home to.

He was so wrapped up in his own thoughts that he almost missed the man bumping into him. On reflex, he grabbed the man's arm and looked him in the eye, growling. "What the hell do you think you are doing?" He gritted his teeth, now in a bad mood.

A woman came walking up to him, her long blue hair unusual like his own smoky grey. Her dark clothes were different from everyone else's bright ones. "Thank you for catching him, he stole my prized flower." She said, her voice silvery and hypnotic. When Smoker looked at the man, he saw he indeed had a beautiful blue rose in his hands as he struggled to get free.

He pulled the pot from the man's grasp, handing it back to the woman. "Here you go." He then turned back to the man, pulling out his badge. "You have the right to remain silent and so on and so forth. I'm not going to go through the whole speech, I'm tired and cranky." He cuffed the young man and started to move back to the precinct but was hit over the head with a brick. He fell to the ground, momentarily blacking out. When his eyes became focused once more, he was looking into the center of a snow drift.

With a little struggling, he freed himself and looked around. All that was left on the sidewalk to prove the encounter even happened was the little flower pot with the blue rose. He moved closer, looking down at it. "Geez. If it was her prized flower, why would she leave it sitting on the ground?" He picked it up, looking it over. "Hm. It will die if I leave it here… guess I'll see if Tashigi wants it." With that, he turned back to the precinct, forgetting the entire reason he had left there in the first place.

"So she just left it there?! This is one of the rarest natural flowers in existence!" Tashigi almost shouted to Smoker who sat there as he drank his coffee. "Do you have any idea how much this thing is worth!?"

Smoker turned to her, a blank look on his face, "Nope, so do you want it or not?"

She sighed, sitting down in her chair. "No. I'll just kill it. I'm no good with plants. I kill cactuses, Smoker! I am less nurturing that a desert!"

"Alright then. I'll just keep it at home…" He said, getting his coat. It was getting late and he wanted to go home, so he wrapped himself well and picked his new flower up once more, settling the pot in the crook of his arm.

"Ok, Smoker. Merry Christmas!" She waved cheerily, a bright smile on her face and a hand on her rounded belly.

He rolled his eyes but gave a small wave, walking out the door and into the street. His apartment was only a few blocks away so he always walked to and from home. The wind was biting cold on his exposed face that wasn't covered by the scarf he wrapped around him, making him shiver and move a bit quicker. His pocket jangled from various metal objects like handcuffs, change, and keys.

As he reached the front door, he pulled said keys out of his pocket, inserting them into the slot in the door handle. He turned them and entered, looking around his dull and bare apartment. The flower pot in his hands found a new home on his bed side table before Smoker threw his coat, gloves, scarf, and double layered sweaters over a chair. The black muscle shirt moved fluidly over his skin as he stretched before flopping down on his bed and picking up the phone to order Chinese.

Once finished, he stared at the ceiling, bored and in need of a good smoke. He got out two cigars once more and put them in his mouth before going around his apartment in search of a lighter. While he was digging through the couch, the flower started to pulse slightly, a red coloring making its way up the petals and into the tips, streaking but creating a beautiful effect.

When smoker turned around, the cigars in his mouth dropped into his out stretched hand in shock. He went over to the plant and examined it. "Now what the hell-?" he murmured as he checked the water, soil, and leaves. "Great, one of the rarest flowers in existence and I killed it…"

He was stopped by the doorbell ringing. He sighed and turned towards the door, making the trip in three steps.

At the front door, a punk stood there, trying miserably to look Asian as he held a paper bag in his hand. The boy looked at Smoker, silently holding out his hand. They had done this drill many times before and they had a silent understanding. The kid brings the food, smoker always has exact change, the kid leaves. Not a word is ever needed to be exchanged. The trade was made and Smoker turned back into his apartment, shutting the door behind him. He was digging through the paper bag, pulling out cartons of food. Once everything was on the table in front of the TV, he crumbled up the paper bag to put it in the trash.

As he returned, though, he saw one carton empty and on its side whilst a pair of very tiny, very _human_ legs stuck out the top of the second carton. Smoker blinked, shook his head, then moved over to inspect this phenomenon.

He reached into the carton and pulled one of the flailing legs out, holding the tiny foot between his thumb and forefinger. Connected to the tiny foot was a shapely leg which, in turn, was connected to a fine ass which transitioned into a smooth muscled back and up strong looking arms which were busy feeding a large open mouth with black hair hanging down in front of wide eyes which stared at him. Smoker stared at the small being, guessing him to have the body of a twenty year old, just stark naked.

"What the Fuck?" Was the only words that came to him.

LBH: Ok guys, so what do you think? Reveiws make me feel guilty and make me write faster and such. Please write reveiws.


	2. My name is Ace

Lbh: Wow, I got reviews! Cool! Thank you to all who reviewed! I know who you are and you know who you are. Because of your positive feedback, I managed to get another chapter up quickly. That, and I had this one mostly done when I posted the last chapter.

Oh well.

Chaos: purr… Lil bishi hunter does not own One Piece or Thumbelina. If she did not disclaimer last chapter, she apologizes and hopes this suffices.

Psycho bunny: Im the plot bunny. Cool, eh? Anyway, I say ON WITH THE STORY!

Flowers in Winter

Chapter 2

Smoker could only stare as the eyes of the small man fell close and a snore escaped his lips. This seemed to wake the cop from his daze, so Smoker started shaking him, glaring half heartedly. "Oi. Wake up."

The man continued to sleep on, oblivious to the shaking until Smoker lost his patience. "OI! STOP SLEEPING!" To which the young man yelled and the piece of chicken he had been holding dropped back into the carton.

He glared at smoker, "Oi, what's your problem, Old Man?" Smoker twitched at the indirect jab at his hair, before turning the munchkin over so he was sitting in his palm. Smoker looked at him for a few seconds before the young man turned around and jumped back onto the table and started eating again.

Smoker finally found his voice, "Why are you eating my food? Who are you? Where the fuck did you come from? STOP EATING MY FOOD!" He ended with a yell, irritated as the small being continued to eat.

At the yell, the black-haired being turned and looked at Smoker. "To answer all your questions, in order, I'm eating your food because I'm starving. I apologize to take without asking but I didn't know it was yours at the time. I don't know who I am, I was just born. I came from that flower over there." He pointed over at the flower, rolling his eyes as if this were the most obvious thing In the world.

The cop blinked a couple of times before standing up and walking over to the phone. He silently dialed a number, waiting a few seconds before saying, "Yes, Is Tashigi there?... Yes… No, it's her partner… Fine, just get her!"

He growled into the phone, making the little man on the table smile before curiosity made him jump off the table and run over to Smoker's pants leg. The young man tugged on the material before starting to climb.

Smoker started talking into the phone again, "Tashigi, I'm taking off of work for a week… Because I said so… I don't care what Hina-No I- wait- STOP INTTERUPTING ME! No, I don't care what Hina thinks. She can shove those cases up her ass for all I care. No, I am not taking off of work just to piss her off. And No, I won't tell you the real reason. Just tell that damned woman I won't be in… Yes… Thank you. Bye." Smoker dropped the phone into its cradle before stomping over to the couch and lying down.

The young man had reached the belt line by this time, but when smoker had flopped down on the couch, his grip on the cop's pants had been torn loose and he had bounced onto his stomach.

Smoker grunted and looked down, seeing the black haired addition to his apartment sitting on his stomach, looking back at him. The brat opened his mouth, "What's a Hina?"

Smoker paused for a moment, then shook his head, "My boss. She is a devil woman who rules the office with an iron fist (1)."

"So she is a bad woman?" The young man cocked his head, a curious gleam in his eyes.

Smoker thought for a second before responding. "Well… not really. Just a pain in the ass." Inwardly, his thoughts were of just how he could cover up the fact that he was hallucinating from said pain in the ass.

Said hallucination started moving around over the slippery black material of Smoker's muscle shirt. Smoker was jarred out of his thoughts and he grunted once more. The young man looked at Smoker before moving once more. When smoker snorted, the black-haired man smirked. Smoker glared at him, "If you do, I swear to god, you will not-" but he was interrupted by his own peals of laughter as the young man tickled him.

"HAHAHA! STOP! I CAN'T- HAHA BREATH!"

The young man smirked, "Not unless you let me live here with you and eat some of that food!"

"YOU DIRTY LITTLE-HAHAHA- PIRATE! HAHAHAA- FINE!" The 'dirty little pirate' stopped, smirking as Smoker glared at him. After he caught his breath, Smoker looked at the young man, picking him up and shaking him a little.

He didn't like that. "Oi! What the fuck!? Put me down!" Smoker did so and smirked, "Payback's a bitch." Inwardly, he was wondering if this was real, or if it was actually possible to hold a hallucination… The young man slid off Smoker's stomach and onto the floor, looking around for the way back to the food. His attention was caught by a book that was halfway open and lying on the ground. His destination changed towards the new object he had not seen before and he was once again curious of his new surroundings. He jumped on top of the open text, looking through it a little before calling to the cop, "Oi! Old Man!"

Said old man looked down at him, once more having been thrown from his musings. "What do you want now, brat? Can't you get up on the table so you can eat more?"

The little man shook his head and looked at the book once more. "Could you please read this to me?" His voice was quiet, but smoker heard it anyway. He got up and picked up the book, the young man with it, and sat back down on the couch. "Well, If you want to read this, you need a bit of a back ground of the storyline. See, a young boy, named Monkey D. Luffy, had always dreamed of being an outlaw. So once he was old enough, he set out in a dingy into the ocean equipped with nothing more than a paddle and the powers he got from a fruit he ate as a young boy. His boat is swallowed up by a whirlpool and he is brought to a pirate's lair. After defeating the pirate hag, Alvida, he and his new friend Coby made their way to a marine base. Once there, Luffy fights the marines and gains a member to his pirate crew, Zoro, the pirate hunter-"

"What?! But that doesn't make sense!" The young man interrupted. "If he was a pirate hunter, why would he join a pirate?"

"I guess because Zoro thought that Luffy would lead him too his dream. And because Luffy was holding his special swords hostage and he had no other choice. Anyway, they travel together and come across a navigator named Nami, a sharpshooter named Ussop, and a chef named Sanji before they reach the grand line." Smoker didn't really want to go over every little detail that went on in the book, so he skimmed over most of it. That is, until he got to the most recent part of the story, the Alabasta part. "Then, just as Luffy was going to be in the Marine captain's clutches, a large flame appeared out of no where, stopping the rush of smoke. It was Portages again, this time to save his little brother. Smoke and Fire clashed and when it was all over, only the marine remained. That's as far as I got. Do you want to continue reading?" Smoker looked over at his shoulder, where the boy had perched and realized that the brat had fallen asleep. Again. Smoker shook his head before book marking he page and setting it down.

The young man sat up and tugged on Smoker's hair. When Smoker turned, the young man smiled, "I have decided what my name is going to be."

Smoker just looked at him, waiting for him to continue.

"My name is Portages D. Ace."

(1)- Hahahaha, pun. And yes, it was totally intended.

Yes, I do realize that this chapter is kinda short, sorry. I wanted to end it there because I have a couple of ideas I want to use and need to decide how I'm going to do it for future chapters. They may not be up for a while, but I promise, they will be up!


	3. The office

Flowers in Winter

Chapter three

Smoker tried to walk as smooth as possible, an extra lumpy scarf around his neck as he walked into the police building head quarters. The occupant inside the scarf kept squirming, softly talking in his ear, "Are we almost to a place I can get out? I'm really hot."

Smoker growled back, trying not to move his lips too much, least someone think he was going crazy. "I told you if you took the shirt, you could stay in my pocket instead."

"But that shirt was super ugly! I wouldn't wear it if it was the last thing on earth!" Ace complained, holding onto the tiny orange hat Smoker had bought him, along with a few outfits, for Christmas.

"You picked it out!" Smoker growled, forgetting to not move his lips. Luckily, they had made it to the office and only two people were in there. Unluckily, only one of the two people was who Smoker wanted to see.

Tashigi smiled, "Good morning, Smoker! Did you have a fun Christmas eating Chinese in front of the couch?"

Smoker rolled his eyes as Ace whispered, "Heh, didn't get around to eating much of that."

Hina tapped her nails on the desk, making Smoker's eye twitch in annoyance. He got out a cigar and a lighter, but as he put the rolled stick in his mouth, he noticed Tashigi and Hina staring at the lighter he pulled out. He looked at it and rolled his eyes. It had purple flames all over it, topped by a pimp hat, and to get fire, you tipped the pimp hat back. Ace had picked it out and he had paid for it without even looking at it. Now he was regretting that choice of action. He growled and lit his cigar before putting it away.

Tashigi blinked in surprise, "Smoker, that's a bit of an…unusual type of lighter to pick out."

Hina just burst out laughing.

Smoker growled again before taking off his scarf and revealing the tiny human sitting on his shoulder. The cop pointed to Ace, saying, "He picked it out."

Ace waved a bit, smiling. "Hi, My name is Portages D. Ace, but you can just call me Ace."

Hina stopped laughing and watched as the mini human walked down smoker's arm and jumped onto the desk, walking around in his bare feet, a pair of shorts, and his orange hat.

Tashigi tilted her head, "Where did you come from?"

Hina said at the same time, "Why is he so small?"

Smoker looked at Ace, smiling, "Answer them, I'm going to sit here and smoke."

Ace looked at the two women and scratched the back of his head. "Um… Well. I don't know why I'm so small, but I came from the flower-"He was interrupted by Tashigi giving a gasp and picking up his hat from off of his head.

"Oi! Give that back! It's my hat!" He started jumping for it, before giving a yelp as Hina picked him up and started flipping him over and looking at him from every angle. He scrambled off her hand and ran over to smoker, crawling up his arm to perch on his shoulder, half hidden behind the cop's neck.

Tashigi smiled and awed, "That's so cute…"

Hina smirked, "Though, Hina doesn't know why Ace would run to Smoker. Smoker is a bad tempered grey haired gorilla who doesn't know how to treat woman right."

Smoker was also curious as to why the beta human ran to him. He looked towards Ace as best as he could, but was stopped as Ace climbed up in his hair and sat there.

Tashigi leaned forward and perched the orange hat back on Ace's head with a small smile. She then turned to Smoker, "So you didn't just sit in front of the TV eating Chinese again this year. My wish came true."

Smoker snorted, "I would have been perfectly happy eating Chinese in front of the TV. Unfortunately, this brat ate it all before I could get a single bite in."

"Oi! I was hungry! What was I supposed to do; I had just been born…technically. Besides, chicken and broccoli tastes good…" Ace smiled in memory of the large meal.

Smoker shook his head slightly, sitting behind his desk and starting to work on the mountain of papers left over from Christmas. Ace climbed down from the top of his head to explore the wide expanse that was the cop's desk.

His exploration was cut short as Tashigi picked him up again, this time holding him in her hands. He looked up at her and blinked curiously.

She smiled, "Are you hungry? I don't really want the rest of my muffin." She said as she strode over to her desk and set him upon it. He instantly brightened and, despite Smoker's injections of 'he just ate!', promptly started wolfing down the rest of the pastry.

Hina shook her head and left the room as Ace leaned back and went to sleep in the wrapper.

Lbh: ok, that is it for a little while. I know the chap is short, but I have been really busy and am really tired, so I figured a short chapter is better than a crappy chapter. Anyway, thank you all who read this, and I adore reviews. Despite all thoughts, they do encourage me and I do get them.

Reviews make the world go round and my day happy!


	4. Learning

Lbh: Hey guys, I'm really sorry for not updating sooner, I have a job and such now and everything is more hectic than usual. Thank you to all of you who stood by and waited patiently for my stories!

Chaos: Lbh does not own One Piece or the storyline to Thumbelina

Psycho Bunny: though she is only using a loose interpretation of the story line.

For the next few weeks, Ace accompanied Smoker to work, much to the joys of Hina and Tashigi. Smoker would deposit Ace on the desk every morning and Ace would promptly eat any food in sight before playing with the pens or retrieving small items to help out the two large humans who worked in that particular office.

Ace one such occasion found Ace doodling on a scrap of paper with a pen bigger than he was. It was somewhat sloppy, but Tashigi smiled to see it was the flower that was his birth and now his bed. She also noticed how he could handle the pen.

"Ace, that's a pretty picture. Is it difficult to hold the pen like that?"

Ace smiled, "Not really. It is more of an issue of what I want to draw than how to get it drawn. It took me the better part of the large hand moving around the clock to figure out the lines were actually something I recognized and wanted to draw."

Tashigi smiled, "How would you like to learn to read and write?"

Ace blinked, "You mean, I would be able to look at those large books Smoker-taisa reads and understand them?"

She nodded and he jumped up, "Yeah!"

So she got out two pieces of paper, setting one down in front of Ace and keeping one in front of her. "Now, I'm going to teach you a song to remember the alphabet. The alphabet is the basis of our language and it is what makes up words. There are 26 letters-"

"26?! That's a lot of letters!" He gasped as Tashigi laughed. Neither of them saw the grey haired man listening outside the office door or the slight smile that was on his face.

"Well Ace, That's why I am going to be teaching you a song and how to write the letters first. Come on my shoulder so you can see." She sang the alphabet song slowly, writing each letter as she sang. "Ok? Should I sing them again, or do you think you can write them out as I sing? I'll sing slowly and show you how to write them if you want."

He nodded, "I want to write them!" He ran down her shoulder and grabbed the pen he abandoned earlier. She held up the paper with the letters on it and slowly recited, "A…". She then pointed to the letter A. Ace concentrated on it and started drawing it, the result shaky and uneven, but an A nonetheless.

Tashigi smiled, "Very good, Ace! It's a little shaky, but the steady writing will come with time and practice. Let's try the B…"

They both continued on and the man outside moved away from the door, hands in his pockets. Hina walked up to him, "Hina knows what is on your mind, Smoker."

Smoker looked at her, then pushed past, "I don't know what you are talking about."

Hina turned, "Hina knows you are fond of him."

He stopped, but didn't turn around, "Why would you come to that conclusion?"

She smiled, "You would not allow any living being into your apartment and live with you for no specified amount of time without some emotional attachment."

He smiled, a small gesture but there, "Your delusional." He said before continuing to walk away.

When Smoker was walking home, Ace in his jacket collar, he stopped in a donut shop to pick up a dozen for both of them at home.

As he got in line, Ace asked him, "What's a donut?"

Smoker thought for a moment, "It's a piece of dough formed into a ring, then deep fried and either filled with a topping or coated with icing or sugar. Do you want something in particular?"

Ace was about to answer when gun shots were heard outside. Smoker turned and ran towards the window while everyone else cowered back. More gun shots sounded and two figures came around the corner, dressed in black and shooting behind them. They were carrying large burlap sacks and running from to cops who followed them behind the corner. Smoker opened the door and tackled one of them, wrestling the gun off of him and kicking out at the other one to trip him up. The officers were upon the first within seconds, restraining and cuffing the culprit. His partner got loose and ran down the street once more. Smoker chased after him.

Ace bounced in his collar, yelling, "Is this part of your job, Smoker?!"

Smoker gave a grunt of acknowledgment before a bang went off and he grabbed his shoulder, yelling in pain. The guy walked over to the fallen cop and picked him up, "Maybe I can ransom you for Tim- OW!" He yelled as Ace bit him, shaking his hand and sending Ace flying into a wall.

Smoker growled and kicked the guy's feet once more, knocking him down and disarming him. He trained his own gun on the man, fury in his eyes. "Don't. Move." He said before moving to pick up Ace, wincing as his injured shoulder screamed at him for forcing it to pick up the small human.

Three cops came around the corner, Tashigi being one of them, "Smoker! You've been shot!" She came up to him and started bandaging his wound. She whispered, "Where is Ace?"

He opened his hand slightly, Ace's limp body lying there, "He saved my life." He moved away, rounding the corner back to where the other robber Tim had been caught. There were EMT's standing around, but as soon as they saw the blood, they rushed forward to help. Three other cops were on stretchers, though only two of them were getting any attention. The third had blood running down her head, obviously dead.

Smoker's face hardened, allowing the EMT's to fix up his shoulder. The bullet went straight through, allowing a clean penetration and very little damage. It just hurt like a son of a bitch. When they walked away, having nothing to do once they bandaged him up, he opened his palm and tried to examine the extent of the damage on Ace. He blinked in confusion and his eyes narrowed when he felt absolutely nothing wrong with the tiny human. He was sure he had heard a crunch of tiny bones when the convict threw Ace against the wall. Now, there was nothing wrong with him. He was even stirring.

"…ugh…Smoker?" He sat up in the larger cop's hand, looking up. "Are you ok?"

Smoker nodded, "Yeah, the bullet went straight through. It's just a bit sore." His voice lowered a bit, "But you were thrown against a wall at a high speed for what you body is proportioned to. I heard the bones break. Why aren't they broken now?"

Ace shrugged, "I don't know. But I sure am hungry!" he smiled up at Smoker, who snorted.

"Alright then. We'll go get those donuts." He shrugged on his coat with some difficulty and left the scene, but not before Ace saw the dead woman.

Smoker went to place Ace on his shoulder, but noticed him staring at the deceased. He watched as Ace turned around, "What's wrong with her?"

Smoker looked away, "She is dead."

Ace narrowed his eyes, "Why is she dead?"

Smoker answered, "She was shot in the head. She will no longer walk around or talk. She isn't even there, really. It's just her body lying there."

The beta human nodded, before looking away, "What was her name?"

Smoker thought for a moment, "I think her name was Belmeil."

Lbh: Ok! I know it has been a really long time and this chapter is really short. I apologize. It did have a lot of action in it though! (hoping to appease)

I promise, even with work being hectic, I will update sooner. It always helps to circle back around into a fandom, (had a momentary lapse of judgment, but I'm back now! I swear!)

Chaos: Psycho and I will bug her until she finishes it!


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